Raising children can be expensive, and the latest report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture – which tracks such things – shows just how much that little bundle of joy will cost you.
Middle-income parents who welcomed a new child last year can expect to spend nearly $300,000 over the next 17 years, the agency reported.
And that doesn’t include add-ons like club soccer, private schools and vacations.
The annual child-rearing expense estimates ranged between $12,290 and $14,320 for a child in a two-child, married couple family in the middle-income group, which is defined as before-tax incomes of $59,410 to $102,870.
Housing makes up the biggest share of the expense, followed by child care and education, food, transportation and health care.
The estimate accounts for inflation.